'That is true': Trump caught on tape backing away from his own lie

Bob Woodward’s bombshell book says Trump’s lawyers know he’ll perjure himself, and in a recently released recording Trump proves the point by getting caught so completely in a lie that he’s forced to admit the truth.

Trump called Woodward in August to discuss the upcoming book, and Woodward recorded the call. Almost immediately, Trump claimed no one had told him Woodward had sought an interview for the book.

Woodward told Trump he had asked “six or seven” different people about interviewing Trump, including White House counselor Kellyanne Conway and “a senator.”

“It’s really too bad, because nobody told me about it, and I would’ve loved to have spoken to you,” Trump told Woodward.

Trump spent several minutes insisting no one had told him about Woodward’s desire for an interview, then asked Woodward which senators he’d spoken to.

“Who were the senators? No, they never called me about it,” Trump said.

“Senator [Lindsey] Graham said he had talked to you about talking to me,” Woodward said. “Now, is that not true?”

“Senator Graham actually mentioned it quickly in one meeting,” Trump finally admitted. “That is true. That is true. Well, that — no, but that is true.”

At one point later in the conversation, Trump handed the phone to Conway, who told Woodward that she forwarded his request for an interview, but it was rejected. When Woodward pressed her to explain who rejected the request, Conway handed the phone back to Trump.

The ease with which Trump trapped himself during this brief phone call demonstrates some of the explosive reporting in Woodward’s book. According to excerpts, Trump’s then-personal lawyer John Dowd told Trump, “Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jumpsuit.”

Trump insisted “I’ll be a real good witness,” and according to the book, Dowd resigned the following day.

Trump’s allies and closest advisers have been warning him for months that testifying for Robert Mueller will be a disaster because Trump cannot stop lying. His performance with Woodward is a reminder that Trump isn’t just a compulsive liar, but a particularly unskilled one who will collapse under even moderately competent questioning.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.